Virgin River by Robyn Carr Page A

she said, “I’ve worked with some legendary assholes, but you’re competing for first place here.”
    “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said gruffly.
    “That figures,” she answered tiredly. “Incidentally, the night was fine.”
    No comment from the old goat. He started for the door and on his way out, grabbed a cane. “Are you limping?” Mel asked him.
    “Arthritis,” he said. He dug an antacid out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth. “And heartburn. Got any more questions?”
    “God, no!”
    “Good.”
    Mel got a bottle ready and while it was in the microwave, she went upstairs to dress. By the time that was accomplished, the baby started to stir. She changed her and picked her up and found herself saying, “Sweet Chloe, sweet baby…” If she and Mark had had a girl, she was to be Chloe. A boy would be Adam. What was she doing?
    “But you have to be someone, don’t you?” she told the baby.
    When she was coming down the stairs, the baby swaddled and held against her shoulder, Jack was opening the front door. He was balancing a covered dish on his hand, a thermos tucked under his arm. “Sorry, Jack—you just missed him.”
    “This is for you. Doc stopped by the bar and said I’d better get you some breakfast, that you were pretty cranky.”
    She laughed in spite of herself. “I’m cranky, huh? He’s a giant pain in the ass! How do you put up with him?”
    “He reminds me of my grandfather. How’d it go last night? She sleep?”
    “She did very well. Only woke up a couple of times. I’m just about to feed her.”
    “Why don’t I give her a bottle while you eat. I brought coffee.”
    “Really, I didn’t know they made men like you,” she said, letting him follow her into the kitchen. When he put down the plate and thermos, she handed over the baby and tested the bottle. “You seem very comfortable with a newborn. For a man. A man with some nieces in Sacramento.” He just smiled at her. She passed him the bottle and got out two coffee mugs. “Ever married?” she asked him, then instantly regretted it. It was going to lead to him asking her.
    “I was married to the Marine Corps,” he said. “And she was a real bitch.”
    “How many years?” she asked, pouring coffee.
    “Just over twenty years. I went in as a kid. How about you?”
    “I was never in the marines,” she said with a smile.
    He grinned at her. “Married?”
    She couldn’t meet his eyes and lie, so she concentrated on the coffee mug. “I was married to a hospital, and my bitch was as mean as your bitch.” That wasn’t a total lie. Mark used to complain about the schedules they kept—grueling. He was in emergency medicine.He’d just finished a thirty-six hour shift when he stopped at the convenience store, interrupting the robbery. She shuddered involuntarily. She pushed a mug toward him. “Did you see a lot of combat?” she asked.
    “A lot of combat,” he answered, directing the bottle into the baby’s mouth expertly. “Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq. Twice.”
    “No wonder you just want to fish.”
    “Twenty years in the marines will make a fisherman out of just about anyone.”
    “You seem too young to have retired.”
    “I’m forty. I decided it was time to get out when I got shot in the butt.”
    “Ouch. Complete recovery?” she asked, then surprised herself by feeling her cheeks grow warm.
    He lifted a corner of his mouth. “Except for the dimple. Wanna see?”
    “Thanks, no. So, Doc left me in charge and I have no idea what to expect. Maybe you should tell me where the nearest hospital is—and do they provide ambulance service to the town?”
    “That would be Valley Hospital—and they have ambulance service, but it takes so long to get here, Doc usually fires up his old truck and makes the run himself. If you’re desperate and have about an hour to spare, the Grace Valley doctors have an ambulance, but I don’t think I’ve seen an ambulance in this town since I’ve